Backtracker

Backtracker

 

by
Jason Koenig

Part One: A Friend In Deed

 

Chapter
1

For a split
-
second, he tasted cool air and opened his eyes to look around.
Then, he hit the water with a sudden, violent force, and could no longer breathe.

As he sank, the water rushed into him, flooding his lungs, freezing him from the inside as well as the outside. Stunned and numb, he dropped further into the icy reaches, propelled by the
momentum of his fall. Down, down
he plunged, a senseless, dead weight, stars flashing behind the lids of his eyes, blooming and winking like holiday fireworks.

Then, instinctively, desperately, he flung away the shock, heaved it off like a blanket, and he realized what was happening.

He was drowning! For God
'
s sake, he was drowning!

With renewed awareness, he fought the water, flailed and kicked and twisted wildly. Still sinking, he writhed and pedaled, battered at the frigid envelope, struggling to end his descent. He
couldn
'
t
let it stop him; there was so much to do.

Though his limbs were numb and his lungs burned, and the fireworks on his eyelids blazed more brilliantly than ever, he surged with strength at the thought of his mission. Thrashing his legs against gravity, he felt himself slowing, felt the speed of his fall diminish. He continued to kick at the water, and finally felt himself stop, and then he opened his eyes and looked up.

Above him, there
wasn
'
t
anyt
hing but blackness.

How far down
was
he? How many feet had he sunk?

Closing his eyes then, he started for the surface, trying to think only of what
he had
to do, not how far
he had
to swim. He chopped his hands and feet through the water, pushed against it with all his might. Propelling himself upward, he focused on his dream, climbed toward the open air with all the force of will with which
he'd
pressed toward his dream
'
s fruition.

He had to survive, had to get there, had to
do
it.
Everything
depended on this moment.

He wondered how far he was from the surface.
He'd
been swimming for so long, and he still wasn
'
t there yet. How far...how far?

A sharp tingling sparked over his body, and he felt himself weaken, begin to succumb. Squinting upward, he saw only more blackness, a mercilessly dark infinity.

He was drowning! He was going to die.

It wasn
'
t fair.
He'd
come so far.

He gave himself a final push, a last, angry jolt, and cursed the world for the millionth time. After all it had done to him, how
dare
it rob him of his last chance?

And then, he
couldn
'
t
kick any more.

Full of rage, a hurricane rage, he stopped swimming.

Miraculously, he felt himself breaking the surface.

Shooting his head up and back, he choked, spat water from his lungs, gulped at the air. He slipped under again, but
wouldn
'
t
let it grab him this time, instead kicked and swept his arms so that he could regain the surface. Bolting his head upward once more, he coughed up water, gagged and spat and actually took in some air.

Snapping his eyes open, he gaped at what lay around him. It was dark, but there was enough moonlight to see the rippling surface of the lake, the tree
-
lined silhouette of the shore.

The shore was a long way off.

Still kicking and sweeping at the water, he managed to slowly turn around. Watching the shoreline, he saw it fold away in the distance, curl along the length of the lake. Turning, he followed the curve of the shore, watched it reach a final, far extension and roll back toward him. That tree
-
lined rim flexed away into a wide cove, then angled sharply inward, protruding into the lake before it swept off toward a distant dam. When
he'd
finished his rotation, he realized that the protrusion was the closest point to where he floated, and he started to swim toward it.

Though it was the closest point, it was still far away, and would take him a long time to reach. He was bolstered, however, strengthened with fresh, flaming resolve;
he'd
blown himself back from the brink of death, and
he had
so much to do, and he
couldn
'
t
give up.

Freezing, aching, gagging, he dragged himself across the lake with long, painful strokes of his arms. As he crawled toward the shore, he felt jubilant, thrilled to have survived this latest misfortune.

And he felt excited, full of anticipation for his coming venture.

He reviewed his plans, all the places
he had
to visit...

...all the things
he had
to do...

...all the people
he had
to kill.

*****

Chapter 2

Like Indians from an old Western movie, the lot of them swarmed toward
Dave Heinrich, attacking
him
in a wild, flurrying pack. Stunned by the sudden attack, he hesitated in the
doorway for a precious instant
--
and by the time
he'd
decided to turn around and flee, it was too late for an escape.

"
Yaaaa
!
"
shouted the three ambushers in a mad chorus,
pouncing like lions on their
shell
-
shocked prey.

"
Hey
!
"
wailed Dave as he str
uggled to fend off the lunatics
.
"
Let go!
"

"
Forget it
!
"
hollered one of the hooligans, locking Dave
'
s right arm in a tight grip.
"
You
'
re comin
'
with us, buddy
-
boy!
"

"
Yeah
!
"
one of the others snickered gleefully.
"
You
'
re goin
'
for a little dip, buster!
"

Gritting his teeth, Dave pivoted in their grip, wrenched and squirmed and tried to find a weak point in the holds of his kidnapers. Helplessly, he felt them bounce and jostle him through the basement, watched clusters of faces flash past as he traveled unwillingly onward.

"
Don
'
t do it
!
"
he yelped as they passed through a doorway and the cold night air licked at his face.
"
Come on! Put me down!
"

"
Hey guys
!
"
crowed one of the attackers.
"
He wants us to put him down! Whatta
'
you say?
"

"
If the man wants down, let
'
s put
'
im down
!
"
laughed another of the hooligans.
"
We aims to please!
"

The three captors stopped in their tracks then, and Dave was hoisted higher.
"
Noooo
!
"
he screamed as they swung him back and forth, one guy holding his legs, one at each of his shoulders.

"
One
!
"
they all hooted in unison, swooping him forward.

"
Lemme
'
go
!
"
shrieked Dave, gaping down at the moonlit ripples which awaited him.

"
Two
!
"
belted the trio of crazies, swinging him forward again, higher this time.

"
Put him down!
"
commanded an angry, familiar voice then, the voice of Dave
'
s girlfriend, Darlene.
"
This isn
'
t funny!
"

"
Threeee!
"
barked the squad of nuts at last, swinging their prisoner higher than ever and finally releasing their hold on him.

Unable to stop himself, Dave coasted through the air and came down with a great splash in the freezing water of the swimming pool. Though he was fully clothed and even wore a coat, he felt a sharp, terrible shock when he hit that water, a keen, blinding burn which pierced his body. All sound disappeared as he plunged downward, as he dropped for an instant into another world, a realm of cold and quiet and darkness.

His feet touched the bottom of the pool. Immediately, he thrust himself upward.

Erupting from the surface, he leaped toward the sky and
howled
.

"
How
'
s the water, Dave
?
"
said
one of the ambushers.

"
Geez!
"
yelped the victim, moving as fast as he could through the chest
-
high ice
-
water, aiming for the ladder which hung from the lip of the pool.
"
Thanks a hell of a
lot
, you guys!
"

"
Any time, man
!
"
chattered wiry Billy Bristol, grinning crazily.
"
We figured
you
'
d like to go for a swim!
"

"
I
'
ll tell ya
'
what,
"
cackled broad
-
shouldered Jack Bunsen.
"
When you show up at a party, you sure make a big
splash
, Dave!
"

"
Thanks,
"
Dave
said
bitterly, grabbing the cold metal frame of the pool
'
s ladder.
"
Thanks for nothing.
"
Tugging himself upward, he found the bottom rung with his sneaker and clambered out of the frigid water.

"
Dave
!
"
piped Darlene, rushing up the wooden steps which ascended from the patio to the deck around the pool.
"
Are you all right?
"

"
Oh, just great,
"
said Dave.
As the water ran and dribbled from his soaked clothes, smacking and pattering onto the deck, he folded his arms and hunched forward, trying to warm himself.

Her wide, dark eyes filled with concern, Darlene touched his elbow and gently guided him forward.
"
Let
'
s hurry and get you inside,
"
she
said
, leading him down the deck stairs.
"
I don
'
t want you to catch pneumonia.
"

Shivering as the March breeze fluttered over
his face, Dave nodded. H
e felt a little better now that Darlene was taking care of him.

"
Hey Dave
!
"
said
Morris Blovitz, the third
of the three guys who
'
d thrown him in the pool
.
"
Now you
'
re a member of the Polar Bear Club!
"
Better known by his nickname,
"
Boris
"
was overweight and jocular, an eccentric character who always trigger
ed
mayhem.

"
Wonderful,
"
said
Dave.
"
Just what I
'
ve always wanted.
"

Led by Darlene,
Dave shuffled past
the others
. Any other time, he would have joined
right in with their joking
;
he and
Billy and Jack and Boris
were great friends
.
Since the dunking,
though, Dave just wanted to get inside the house and dry off.

"
Hey Dave.
"
Billy hustl
ed toward his sopping
-
wet victim
.
"
Wait up, man.
"

"
Aw, buzz off,
"
grumbled Dave, following Darlene to the basement door.

"
Hold on a minute.
"
Billy spr
a
ng forward to grab Dave
'
s shoulder.

Dave turned an irritated frown
on him
.
"
What
?
"

"
You
'
re not really mad, are you
?
"
Billy
'
s
bright blue eyes twinkled
mischievously.
"
I mean, it was just a joke, y
'
know?
"
Expectantly, he watched for Dave
'
s reaction, hopefully flashing his childlike smile.

"
Yeah, yeah,
"
said
Dave.

"
You gotta
'
admit,
"
said Billy.
"
I
f that had been
me
getting tossed in the pool, you would
'
ve thought it was pretty damn funny.
"

Dave
thought it over,
wip
ing
the water from his nose with the back of one hand.
"
Yeah,
"
he
said
finally.
"
I guess t
hat would
'
ve been funny.
"

"
Well, see then
?
"
Billy spread his arms wide.
"
It was funny! You gave everybody a good
laugh! You oughtta
'
be glad,
not mad!
"

"
You know what
?
"
said
Dave.
"
I think you
'
re completely trashed right now.
"

"
I am!
I am
!
"
Billy laughed.
"
We all are!
"

"
Honest to God,
"
said
Darlene.
"
You
'
re just like a little kid, Billy. Come on, Dave.
"

"
Hey,
Dave,
"
said Billy
.
"
Don
'
t stay mad for too long, okay? It
'
s not good for ya
'
.
"

"
Yeah
,
"
said
Dave.
"
Sure.
"